Kognisi gajah: Perbedaan antara revisi

Banyak [[Etologi|etolog]] melihat [[gajah]] sebagai salah satu hewan yang paling cerdas di dunia. Dengan massa otak lebih dari 5 &nbsp;kg, otak gajah memiliki massa lebih besar daripada hewan darat lainnya, dan meskipun [[Paus (mamalia)|paus]] terbesar memiliki massa tubuh dua puluh kali daripada massa [[gajah]] pada umumnya, otak paus hanya bermassa hampir dua kali massa otak gajah. Sebagai tambahan, gajah memiliki total neuron (sel saraf) di dalam tubuh sebanyak 300 miliar.<ref>http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/2014/02/26/searching-for-the-elephants-genius-inside-the-largest-brain-on-land/</ref> Otak Gajah mirip dengan otak manusia dalam hal konektivitas umum dan area. [[Korteks otak besar|Korteks]] Gajah memiliki [[Sel saraf|neuron]] sama banyak seperti otak manusia,<ref name="Roth">{{cite book|title=Mirror Neurons and the Evolution of Brain and Language|year=2002|url=https://archive.org/details/mirrorneuronsevo00stam|last=Roth|first=Gerhard|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mirrorneuronsevo00stam/page/n71 63]–76|chapter=Is the human brain unique?|author2=Maxim I. Stamenov|author3=Vittorio Gallese}}</ref> yang menjadi petunjuk dari [[evolusi konvergen]].<ref name="PNAS-2009">{{Cite journal|last=Goodman|first=M.|last2=Sterner|first2=K.|last3=Islam|first3=M.|last4=Uddin|first4=M.|last5=Sherwood|first5=C.|last6=Hof|first6=P.|last7=Hou|first7=Z.|last8=Lipovich|first8=L.|last9=Jia|first9=H.|date=19 November 2009|title=Phylogenomic analyses reveal convergent patterns of adaptive evolution in elephant and human ancestries|url=http://www.pnas.org/content/106/49/20824.full.pdf+html|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=106|issue=49|pages=20824–20829|doi=10.1073/pnas.0911239106|pmc=2791620|pmid=19926857|access-date=2017-05-03|archive-date=2015-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924153123/http://www.pnas.org/content/106/49/20824.full.pdf+html|dead-url=yes}}</ref>

Gajah menunjukkan berbagai macam perilaku, termasuk yang berhubungan dengan kesedihan, belajar, [[mimikri]], bermain, [[altruisme]], [[Penggunaan alat pada hewan|penggunaan alat-alat]], [[Belas kasihan|kasih sayang]], kerjasama,<ref name="PNAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/03/02/1101765108|title=Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task|publisher=PNAS|accessdate=2011-03-08|archive-date=2013-12-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208070918/http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/03/02/1101765108|dead-url=yes}}</ref><ref>BBC: Elephants know how to co-operate http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm</ref> kesadaran diri, [[Ingatan|memori]], dan [[Komunikasi hewan|komunikasi]].<ref name="NatlGeoNews">{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0221_030221_elephantvocal1.html|title=In Africa, Decoding the "Language" of Elephants|last=Parsell|first=D.L.|date=2003-02-21|publisher=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] News|accessdate=2007-10-30}}</ref> Selain itu, bukti-bukti juga menunjukkan bahwa gajah dapat memahami sikap menunjuk, yaitu kemampuan untuk [[Komunikasi nonverbal|berkomunikasi secara nonverbal]] kepada sebuah objek dengan memperpanjang jari, atau sejenisnya.<ref name="NYT-20131010">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/science/elephants-get-the-point-of-pointing-study-shows.html|title=Elephants Get the Point of Pointing, Study Shows|last=Zimmer|first=Carl|date=10 October 2013|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=10 October 2013}}</ref> Perilaku tersebut menunjukkan bahwa gajah adalah hewan yang sangat cerdas dan diperkirakan bahwa kecerdasan mereka setara dengan hewan ''[[Cetacea|''cetacea]]'']]<ref name="ABCScience">{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/03/08/3158077.htm|title=Elephants smart as chimps, dolphins|year=2011|author=Jennifer Viegas|work=ABC Science|accessdate=2011-03-08}}</ref><ref name="Jennifer Viegas 2011">{{cite web|url=http://news.discovery.com/animals/elephants-intelligence-test-110307.html|title=Elephants Outwit Humans During Intelligence Test|year=2011|author=Jennifer Viegas|work=Discovery News|accessdate=2011-03-19|archive-date=2011-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308093715/http://news.discovery.com/animals/elephants-intelligence-test-110307.html|dead-url=yes}}</ref><ref name="DolphinGuide">{{cite web|url=http://tursiops.org/dolfin/guide/smart.html|title=What Makes Dolphins So Smart?|year=1999|work=The Ultimate Guide: Dolphins|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/68odq4rDt?url=http://tursiops.org/dolfin/guide/smart.html|archivedate=2012-06-30|accessdate=2007-10-30|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref><ref name="Friendsoftheelephant">{{cite web|url=http://www.elephantfriends.org/mind.html|title=Mind, memory and feelings|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718232358/http://www.elephantfriends.org/mind.html|archive-date=2011-07-18|dead-url=yes|work=Friends Of The Elephant|accessdate=2007-12-20}}</ref> dan [[primata]]<ref name="Hart">{{cite journal|last=Hart|first=B.L.|date=November 2001|title=Cognitive behaviour in Asian elephants: use and modification of branches for fly switching|url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/ar/2001/00000062/00000005/art01815|journal=Animal Behaviour|publisher=Academic Press|volume=62|issue=5|pages=839–847|doi=10.1006/anbe.2001.1815|author2=L.A. Hart|author3=M. McCoy|author4=C.R. Sarath|accessdate=2007-10-30}}</ref><ref name="Scott">{{cite news|url=http://express.lineone.net/posts/view/22474/Elephants-really-don-t-forget|title=Elephants Really Don't Forget|last=Scott|first=David|date=2007-10-19|publisher=Daily Express|accessdate=2007-10-30|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312072357/http://express.lineone.net/posts/view/22474/Elephants-really-don-t-forget|archivedate=2008-03-12|df=}}</ref> dalam hal ini. Para [[Filsafat Yunani kuno|filsuf Yunani Kuno]], [[Aristoteles]], pernah berkata bahwa gajah adalah "hewan yang melampaui seluruh hewan lainnya dalam hal kecerdasan dan pikiran."<ref name="O">{{cite book|title=The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Lives of the Wild Herds of Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/elephantssecrets0000ocon|last=O'Connell|first=Caitlin|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2007|isbn=0-7432-8441-0|location=[[New York City]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/elephantssecrets0000ocon/page/174 174], 184}}</ref>